The Briar Patch Kids
by Light Iron Girder
Summary: When Maximum Batchelor moves to a new school, she expects to find another dull, boring school and a low spot on the social scale. Instead she finds friendship, love, and an immense skill at bottle wars. FAX, MYLAN, and possible EGGY. Rated T for Triangles
1. Bottle Wars

**Okay, I hope you guys like this! Just remember, I did this in the freezing tundra, with my toes about to fall off (curse you, central air!) for you guys!**

**Disclaimer: Do I look like a sixty-four-year old thriller writer to you?**

Have you ever had that feeling of deep foreboding so strongly that even if you were standing in front of the mouse from Chuck-E-Cheese holding a lolly-pop in your hand, you would still be crawling in your skin?

I have that every time I move to a new school, which is a lot. So as I stood in front of the overly mowed landscape of some elite-cookie-cutter-briar-patch-high-school, you can imagine my confusion when I felt...

Calm? Relaxed? This was unnatural, and I was beginning to suspect some sort of brain-washing to be going on here, when a brown blur ran past me and stopped dead in it's tracks.

"OMG! You must be the new girl, Max! Hi, my name is Nudge, well, not really, it's actually Monique, but everybody calls me Nudge cause-" A large, pale white hand reached out from behind the chatterbox and covered her mouth. While "Nudge" tried to pry off the hand, it's owner finished the sentence for her.

"Because we have to nudge her to get her to shut-up." The voice belonged to a tall boy, at least 6'3, with spiked platinum blond hair and bright blue eyes. He stretched out his free hand to me, and said, "Hey. My name's Iggy. Sorry about her," He nodded his head in Nudge's general direction. "She can go on forever." He smiled coyly at me, but missed my face by at least six inches.

"Excuse me, but my face is up _here._" I pointed to my face, and he raised his eyes to look at my neck. "A little bit farther, nimrod. What are you, blind?" I was beginning to get tired of this kid's antics.

"Actually, yes, I am. I have been since the age of five." he replied. I looked searchingly into his eyes, and began to notice a milky sky blue fog. Major face palm.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't know... Wow, I feel like an idiot now." I rubbed my forehead and made a small moaning noise somewhere in the back of my throat.

"Nah, it's fine. Most people can't tell anyway. It really makes clothes shopping awkward, though... Anyway, I gotta go, notes to take, tests to fail. Later." He smiled warmly at me and jogged off to his next class with surprising accuracy. Now that he had finally released his death grip on Nudge, she was over dramatically gasping for air. I was beginning to like this girl.

* * *

><p><em>Wanna sit together at lunch? <em>For the first time in my life, a note had been passed to me with positive contents. I looked over my shoulder to find three of my newly acquired friends smiling at my with varying levels of enthusiasm; Nudge was grinning shamelessly, Iggy kept dropping "subtle" hints about who passed it, and Ella was waving at me, still holding her fluffy pink pen. I turned my head from Iggy's wiggling eyebrows to scribble down my answer. _Sure._ I crumpled it up, and when the teacher wasn't looking, tossed it to the back of the room. Unfortunately, I forgot that Iggy was blind and couldn't catch it.

Here's an interesting fact: Students tend to notice when someone yells out crap in the middle of class. Let me tell you, the teacher sure did.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe we have lunch detention! Ugh, I can still hear that snarky voice..." Ella complained. We had no problem reciting our teacher's lecture, but I could tell the others had more experience imitating Mrs. Johnson than I did.<p>

"If you all want to sit with each other so badly, then I expect you'll have no problem finding yourselves a seat together in lunch detention." We all grimaced at the memory of the evil pink slips stuffed in our pockets.

"Well, on the the bright side, Fang will probably be there." Nudge said encouragingly. Fang? My thoughts automatically jumped to a large dog, then to a human with a similar likeness. We had finally made it to the detention room _(my home away from home)_, and I placed my hand on the doorknob. I took a deep breath, getting ready to look as important as possible, and pushed the door open.

Inside was your ordinary detention room, with some out of the ordinary people. The walls were gray and the floor and ceiling tile were some variation of tan that did _not_ look healthy. _Home sweet home,_ I thought. As for the people, it contained the usual miscreants, a few students who looked like they were scared out of their wits, and...

A guy. Now, I don't usually notice boys, let alone their hotness, but this was unavoidable. His features were smooth and unmoving, and his skin was a perfect olive tone. His eyes were a deep black void, matching the color of his short hair, which reached down to the nape of his neck. His expression was cool, and I found it hard to imagine that I had ever thought him to be dog-like.

The man stood up and walked over, the side of his mouth lifting into a smile. "Hey guys. What are you in for this time?" His voice was smooth like velvet, which isn't always so smooth, but I didn't care. It was also really deep. And I mean, _really_ deep.

"Passing notes in Mrs. Johnson's class. Got busted when Iggy here started screaming out vulgarities." Nudge smiled as she retold the story of meeting me and how it was ultimately my fault that they got in trouble.

"Hey! It is not my fault! It's Nudge's fault for talking to me in the first place!" I exclaimed. Fang, as I later learned his name was, was casually leaning against a wall, and calmly interjected.

"It's my fault." Everyone's head swiveled toward him. He hardly ever spoke, and when he did, he attracted attention. Even I couldn't help but stare.

"Oh yeah, that's right... You forced me into joining the Welcoming Committee at the beginning of the year, so that I could get club credits. If I wasn't in the club, I wouldn't have been looking for Max... I guess your right." Nudge's eyes widened with apprehension. Now that the blame was set on Fang, everyone was considerably calmer. He seemed to have no problem shouldering it, and lightly brushed it off; He was a peace keeper of sorts.

Detention went off without a hitch, and by the end we were having a fierce bottle war, including hockey, baseball, and a game of "darts" where we aimed for different parts of a poster on the wall. Fang managed to nail the Statue of Liberty on the nose exactly, earning him fifteen points. It was at this point, where we were all rolling on the floor laughing, and there were empty water bottles scattered across the room _(Gatorade bottles work best),_that the lady that was supposed to have been watching us walked in.

"Detention's over. Get to class." She said bluntly. She spun around and exited the room without another word, all the while her bun not moving an inch. The students collected their "trophies", and got ready to leave the room.

"Hey, Max! What class do you have next?" Ella called from the door. I glanced down at the paper with my new schedule.

"Um, Chem 1. Anybody else going there?" I looked around the room, my eyes scanning over Ella's disappointed face and Iggy "nursing his wounds". Let's just say that Nudge did not appreciate his gloating, and got a little violent with her Propel bottle...

"I've got Chemistry. I'll walk you there." A deep voice floated across the room, and I turned around to see Fang gathering his book bag.

"Oh, um, thanks." Everyone was a little surprised. Fang didn't talk, and seldom put himself into social situations unless absolutely necessary, that much I knew. It was unnatural for him to offer to walk _anybody_ to class, especially some new girl that he barely knew.

"No problem." He said quietly, and walked through the doorway. I grabbed my bag and raced out the door after him. We then walked to Chemistry in comfortable silence, although we did turn a few heads in the hall.

We made it into the classroom in the nick of time. The bell rang just as we entered, and while Fang found his seat, I was once again forced to go through the painful process of introducing myself. "Maxine Batchelor?" The teacher asked.

"Sorry, sir, but that's not my name." I corrected. The teacher seemed a little confused, and slightly bewildered. If he wasn't corrected a lot before, he was in for a rude awakening.

"I'm sorry, Maxine, but in my class, we don't go by nicknames like, Max or Sam, especially not 'Fang' or 'Broseph'. We go by our entire legal names, and I will call you by your full name whether you like it or not." He said with finality. I found it surprisingly amusing to see his mustache hairs quivering, and nearly laughed a few times.

"Actually, sir, that's the thing. Max isn't short for Maxine, it's short for Maximum. My name is _Maximum_ Batchelor, not _Maxine_ Batchelor." I smiled politely at him, and he seemed furious at himself for being incorrect. I just hoped that he wouldn't vent that rage on me. My father would be mad enough already that I had a lunch detention on my first day, but not at all surprised. He would have expected it.

"Just take a seat."

* * *

><p>Classes finally ended, and I rushed outside. I grabbed a ride with Ella, who drove me to my house a lot faster than I was comfortable with. "Thanks for the lift." I said. Ella looked over and grinned at me.<p>

"No problem, Max." I was halfway out the car door when she suddenly grabbed my arm. "Oh, I almost forgot. We're having a sleep-over at my house. It's just me and a couple of friends. You wanna come?" She smiled hopefully at me.

"Sure. Can you pick me up after school? Five-ish?" I asked. Ella nodded her head, and I hopped all the way out this time, closing the car door behind me. I ran inside my house, waving to Ella before I entered, and stepped inside. I threw my bag down on the furniture, told my dad was home, and raced upstairs.

I hadn't finished setting up my room yet, but it was coming along well. The bed was in there, at least. I stepped out onto my balcony and sat on a little lawn chair. Directly across from me was another balcony from the neighboring house, the contents of the room hidden behind black curtains. My dad had told me that we were going over to the neighbors house later on that night, and the thought horrified me. Black curtains weren't a good sign, and the fact that I lived across from their balcony scared me half to death.

The only thought that I had as I walked back into my room was to get curtains set up as soon as possible.

**A few parting thoughts:**

**The whole bottle wars thing? I've done that before at one of our most important Scholastic Bowl meets. It was awesome because our teacher almost joined us at one point, but in the end he told us to stop throwing bottles around. We did a foot hockey game, dodge ball (kind of), darts, and volleyball (with paper wads). Our teacher took out a bunch of coins later on and balanced them on his arm, then flipped it over and caught them. I tried with fifteen, and they went flying everywhere. Not much fun.**

**You'd be surprised how many times I had to resist the urge to write down gabberflasted. I even started to keep tally, and it added up to five total. I know, I'm pathetic. **

**Apparently Broseph is not a real word... Pity.**

**Thanks for reading! I hope you guys liked it! Free virtual platypuses to the first three reviewers.**

**Also, virtual Quivering Mustache Hairs to anybody who can tell me what elastodynamics means.**

**P.S. Central Air left me alone for a while, so my toes are still safe and intact. No worries. ;-)**

**R&R?**


	2. Black Curtains, Pillow Pets, and Lasagna

**Sorry about how long it took me, I had some stuff to do.**

**Platypuses go to: My Silver Wings18, , and You-Are-A-Fridge-With-Wingss**

**Fridgey, I will keep my mustache hairs, thank-you very much!**

**DISCLAIMER: Who has two thumbs and doesn't own Maximum Ride? _THIS GIRL!_**

_Okay, carry the x...divide by two..._ After banging my head on my desk several times, I compromised to beg Nudge for help on math later. I pushed my chair back, rolling a few feet and coming to a halt. I hopped up and walked over to my bathroom to brush my teeth and run through my hair with a brush.

I slid down the banister and landed next to my father, who was fixing his tie. "Are you ready, Max?" he asked. I nodded my head in reply and walked out the door. It was six o' clock and my stomach was grumbling like chewbacca. I could only hope that the neighbors had the food made by the time I arrived.

We climbed up the porch steps and were about to knock on the door when it burst open and a little girl, no more than six years old, pulled us inside.

The house looked normal enough, and there weren't any signs of murder or the outline of someone's body in tape, so I took it as a good sign.

"Hiyah! You must be the new people! My name's Angel, and it's really nice to meet you!" She grinned at us, and pulled us further inside. She sat us down on a cream-colored sofa, and hollered upstairs, "Mom! Dad! The neighbors are here!" Her voice was spread throughout the entire house, and my dad and I winced at the pitch.

"Angel, quiet down." Fang's familiar voice echoed through a hallway, and he walked down the stairway. It took him a second to register my presence, but when he did, he gave one of his famous half-smiles that lit up the room. "Hey, Max." He said.

My dad looked at the two of us as I said hello back, and asked, "Do you two know each other?"

I smiled at him, and replied, "Yeah, dad. This is Fang, he's in my chemistry class. We met in lunch detention yesterday." My dad frowned a bit at the mention of my lunch detention, and probably didn't approve of me "fraternizing" with a boy named Fang.

Fang walked over and shook my dad's hand, re-introducing himself as Nick. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he gave me a look that said, _You really want your dad to think of me as Fang?_ I smiled, and Fang walked over to me at the same time the rest of his family entered the room.

There was a tall lady, with long, black hair that reached to the bottom of her back. She was the spitting image of Fang, but her eyes were a bright sky blue. She smiled a lot more than Fang did, and had the beginning of crow's feet at the edge of her eyes.

A man stood next to her, a good five inches taller than Fang, which was a lot, considering Fang was 6'4. He had short, curled blonde hair with a round, boyish face. He grinned broadly as he entered, and his hazel eyes lit up at the sight of us. "Welcome to our home! Dinner will be done in a minute!"

The next five minutes were a blur of introductions, in which I met Fang's younger brother, Zachary, who Fang referred to as "The Gasman" or "Gazzy". I got a feeling that the school I now went to was big on nicknames, so I just went along with it. The table was set, and we all sat down to eat lasagna. The younger girl, Angel, pronounced it Luh-Sag-Nah, which caused a round of laughter from the adults at the table. She looked rather confused, and I tried to explain to her the proper pronunciation, but gave up once I realized it was never going to happen.

Later on, after Fang had carried Angel and Gazzy up to their bedrooms, he took me on a tour of the house. I kept wondering when we would enter the room with the black curtains, and slowly realized that it was probably just Fang's room. This brought on the new prospect of what Fang's room would be like. I didn't know him very well, so it might contain hidden murder victims, or it could be filled with pillow-pets and Justin Bieber posters. Frankly, I figured that the second option would be the scariest.

Finally, we made it to a door with Fang's name carved into it. "Here's my room." Fang said plainly. He swung the door open, and I shuffled in, suspecting the worse, and bracing myself for the plush toys...

I was completely off. His room was plain, with black furniture, black floors, black walls, and, sure enough, a big black curtain. It did have a few relics lying around, such as modern art paintings on the wall, multicolored bean-bag chairs, and a poster, not of Justin Bieber, but of Linkin Park.

We sat down on the bean-bag chairs and chatted for a while. I learned that he was applying for Harvard college, was planning to join the Peace Corps, and the reason why his favorite color was black. "You see, black is the absence of color, but when you paint, it's the combination of all colors. It's the best of both worlds, no color, and all color." He said with his signature half-smile I had grown to love.

"So, what you're meaning to say, is that you're like a rainbow?" I asked, trying and failing to raise one eyebrow. He looked at me like I was a freak, then caught on and raised one of his own. _Show off._

"Yup. Just like a freaking rainbow." Now his face was a full fledged grin, and it lit up his entire face. We heard yelling from downstairs, and Fang ran off to see what his parents needed. In the meantime, I began to think about how different Fang's room was from what I had been expecting.

As I thought more and more about it, I began to think about the murder weapons, and I started to get worried. My mind wandered further and further, until finally I caved and stood up. It was time to investigate.

I started creeping around the room, searching only with my eyes, until I worked up the courage to open a drawer. It was his desk, and just filled with some pens and pencils. _Of course he wouldn't keep the murder weapons in such an obvious place... It would be much better hidden! _I started looking under pillows and blankets, checking under one of the bean-bag chairs, and looking behind the evil black curtain. Fang still wasn't back, probably running some errand. I opened the door a crack, and saw his parents downstairs giving Fang some instructions. It was muffled, but my good hearing let me understand what they were saying. "We need you to check on Angel and Zachary every once in a while. They're still getting used to their new beds, and I want to make sure they're getting their rest." I heard his father say. I closed the door behind me and pondered where to check next.

The closet. I needed to check the closet. It was a classic hiding place, and I knew that I needed to check it before he got back. It, too, was painted black, and opened with a creek. _Spooky,_ I thought to myself. I opened it up, and it looked like a normal teenager's closet. It had the extra clothing that didn't fit in his dresser (_there wasn't any evidence of murder there, either), _and a mini-fridge. I continued rummaging through his closet, feeling very Michael Bennett-y. Towards the back, I felt something hard, and circular. I pulled it out and found a...

Whip.

The door swung open and I spun around, holding the whip behind my back. Fang gave me a questioning look, and walked over. Before he came any closer, I unraveled the weapon in question and held it above my head, read to strike.

"Stand back! I'm not afraid to use this! Now, tell me, why do you have a whip in your closet?" I glared at him, and he stared at me for a total of five seconds until he burst into laughter.

This wasn't normal laughter, of course. It was Fang laughter, which is more like chuckling, but slightly breathier. A grin was plastered across his face, and his eyes were starting to water. He looked up at me, and choked out, "Please tell me you aren't serious!"

I frowned, and said, "Don't laugh! Now tell me, why do you have this!" I was starting to get angry. Who was he to laugh at me? He should be explaining!

Eventually he straightened up, cleared his throat, and tried his best to explain. "Max, it's not a whip. It's a jump rope." I looked down at the "whip" in my hands, and realized that it had two handles on it. It was true. I had been so caught up in him being some psychotic Pillow-Pet-Serial-Killer that I didn't manage to realize that it was just playground equipment.

"But... Why do you even _have_ this is your closet!" My eyes flared because he had began to laugh again.

"Everybody needs to exercise, Max." He said with exaggerated patience. "Besides, my little sister is in a dance class and this is one her warm-ups. She doesn't like doing it alone, so I help her." This brought on a sudden image of Fang taking ballet, which brought on a fit of laughter from me.

"Oh my gosh! I am so stupid!" At some point I had to lean against a wall to keep from falling over, and Fang just stood there and smiled. He made some remark about how the first step to recovery was acceptance, but I wasn't paying much attention. I could only think about how dumb I was to think of Fang as a murderer.

Eventually I calmed down enough, and we decided to run over to my house so that Fang could help me with my Math. Apparently he was a wiz at Algebra, and he even took an advanced class. I walked over to the area by Fang's desk to grab my purse, and Fang waited patiently by the door.

We ended up sitting on Fang's balcony goofing around, not even paying attention to my math homework. Fang's smile grew bigger as I retold the amazing Pillow-Pet charade, and even he could help but laugh at the mention of his "dream room". He assured me that he didn't have any stuffed animals, taxidermy or pillow-pet. His little sister did, but there were no Pillow-Pets. We then spent the next half-hour or so debating the best Pillow-Pet to get, eventually deciding on the Unicorn, with the Panda at a close second.

Later on, when I got home, I looked out across my balcony and saw that Fang was still sitting there, but strumming a guitar that I hadn't noticed before. I walked out onto my balcony, and we started talking again, until it was at least midnight. One of his parents walked upstairs and asked what all the noise was about, so we started to throw notes across our yards. After we learned that crumpling it didn't work, we tried paper airplanes. In the end, we decided on using a process similar to that of using a note-in-a-bottle, but with Gatorade

This, of course, was very noisy, and only got the both of us yelled at by our parents. We both turned in around one-o-clock, and I slept with sweet dreams of black curtains, pillow-pets, and Luh-Sag-Nah.

**Okay, chapter two is _done. _For some reason, that was a lot of fun to write. I had been worried about it not being long enough, but then I looked down and realized that I had written three pages worth of story... I'm starting to wonder what it would be like if I didn't pay any attention.**

**Gladly, I didn't wake up underwater, so I guess I'm on time. Sorry if I took too long, I plan to update on a Sunday-ish time. **

**R&N?**


	3. You're Not a Toaster

**Okay, I feel as if I'm in the writing zone, especially because I have my pre-summer jitters, so I'll be posting a torrent of work in the next week or so. Brace yourselves!**

**Disclaimer: A pun is a short quip followed by a long groan; as is a disclaimer. **

**Warning: May contain excessive use of cheesy catch-phrases**

* * *

><p>Coffee. I needed coffee.<p>

It might have partially been that I had stayed up until one in the morning talking to Fang, but for some reason I craved it with a burning passion. I automatically jumped out of bed and ran downstairs.

The kitchen was fresh with the scent of pancakes and the steam of a fresh pot of coffee, and I hopped into a chair next to my father. I stacked ump-teen pancakes onto my plate, and slathered them effectively with butter and syrup. "Do you need a ride to school, Max?" My dad asked.

"Nah, Ella's giving me a ride again." I said through a mouthful of deliciousness. I pored myself a cup of coffee, leaving it black because I was too thirsty. I wiped my mouth off with a napkin and continued to eat my breakfast.

"Are you going to breathe between bites, dear, or will I need to give you the Heimlich?" My dad asked, smiling at me. I muttered a no, and stood up. I thanked him for breakfast, and ran upstairs to get ready for school. Ella was going to pick me up early because she had a Student Council meeting, so I was in a rush to get out the door.

As I slipped my unfinished Calculus homework into my book bag, a sharp beep came from outside my balcony. I pulled back the curtain a few inches and saw Ella's convertible waiting outside. I slung my bag over my shoulder and raced out the door and into her car, yelling good-bye to my dad before I left.

"Hey, sleepy-head. Are you ready to go?" She asked, smiling at me. Even at seven thirty in the morning, she managed to look perfect. Her hair was pin straight and her makeup wasn't smudged at all. I hoped with all of my heart that tonight at her party she wouldn't make me look that girly.

"Yup. I'm ready." I grinned at her, and she sped down the road towards the high school. Even from a distance it looked impressive. There was ivy climbing up white-washed walls, the grounds were trimmed perfectly, as usual, and the fountain in front of the opening doors was washed to perfection, it's quartz rimming glistening in the warm sun. We were all surprised that the summer had extended so long into the year, and were waiting for it to cool down. It was the best weather we could have hoped for for Ella's party. We discussed it on our way to school, and decided to have a bonfire, which I had never been to before.

"You've never been to a bonfire before? How?" Ella gave me an incredulous stare, which she soon re-directed to the road _(thank goodness)_.

"I used to live in Colorado. It was always too cold, and when it was warm enough, it was too wet from all the melted snow. Plus, I like to cook _indoors, _where bugs don't try to enter my esophagus." I said. Ella just shook her head at me and rolled her eyes at me.

Finally, we arrived at school. I stepped out of Ella's car, thankful to be out the death trap. I thanked her with a hug and wished her luck at the meeting. I walked leisurely down the sidewalk in my black _Champions_, a big smile on my face.

It turned out that Iggy had also had the idea of coming to school early, and was already waiting by my locker. "Hey. I had an early soccer meeting. Whole team had extra warm ups to get ready for regionals." I smiled at him, ignoring the urge to ask him how he could play soccer when he was blind. Iggy had successfully managed to amaze me yesterday. It turned out that he could do almost anything if he used his other senses. In fact, he was a wiz at chemistry, and could "make a bomb out of anything". I heard this not only from fellow students, but from a few teachers also, who said it a tad beseechingly.

"Yeah, I heard about regionals. Ella says she's going to drag me over there this weekend to 'cheer on the team'. I don't even know who's on the team." I said. I was rummaging in my locker, with my head hidden from view.

"The team? Well, there's me, Dylan, Sam, a couple other guys... Oh, and Fang." I banged my head on the locker door. Fang's on the soccer team? He doesn't do anything! I thought he was a bum!

"Are you serious? Fang?" I looked at Iggy while rubbing my head. Note to Self: Lockers are hard. I heard some laughing from down the hallway, suggesting that other students had began to arrive at school.

"Yeah. Well, I gotta go. Catch you later, Maxie." He turned and jumped out of reach before I could slap him for calling me Maxie. Still, I couldn't help but smile at Iggy's humor, and closed my locker with my hand, not my head. A few girls walked down the hall, talking about how lucky they were to already have equipment on hand for the new gym lesson on-

I found myself pushed against a locker, a hand pressed over my shoulder and another on my hip. I looked up and saw Fang staring down at me with a scared expression. "Watch out, Max!" He whisper/yelled at me. "Those girls have dangerous weapons!" As it turned out, the gym lesson that day was going to be on jump-roping. Fang had been trying to "protect me" from the frightening murder weapons.

I gave him my best death glare as he stepped away from me, smiling mockingly at me, only one half of his mouth lifted. "Run. Run for your life." I said. Fang chuckled for a few seconds, then caught my expression. He turned around and raced down the hall, with me at his heels. "Get back here!" I yelled.

Fang turned a corner and jumped behind some random kid's back. He held the kid by the shoulders and used him as a human shield. "Max, please don't kill me." Fang said, clearly holding back laughter. I, on the other hand, was totally serious. I was about to rip him to pieces for making fun of me and my Sherlock Holmes-y actions.

I turned my body to the left, but he mirrored my actions so that we were still parallel to each other. After doing this several times, people began to notice our little... dispute. Students were staring across the hall, waiting to see who would run first. It turned out to be Fang.

He hit the ground running and sped down the hall. I followed him immediately and part of the crowd followed us. He spotted a door and threw it open, running in. I was about to follow him inside when I noticed the sign. He had run into the boy's bathroom. "Yeah, that's right! Hide behind the urinals, you little wimp!" I screamed at the door.

I heard a muffled, "I plan to!" from behind the door. I rolled my eyes and leaned against the wall next to the door. A few seconds later the door opened a crack, and I glared at it. Almost immediately, the door closed itself. Wimp.

A loud, clattering disturbance sounded from above, proving the day's beginning. Within a few short minutes the bell would ring again and we would be late for class, but I didn't care. I only cared about that door, what was behind it, and what I was going to do with Fang when he came out.

"C'mon, Max! We're going to be late for class! Just let me out!" Fang hollered from behind the door. I yelled back at him about he could leave any time he liked. "You know that's not what I mean!" I couldn't help but smile at the hint of helplessness in his tone. Any moment now...

The door swung open and Fang raced down the hall to his first hour class, which was coincidentally _my_ first hour class. I chased him down the hall once again, and he sprang into our classroom. The second after I entered, the bell rang, and the door was closed behind us.

"How nice of the two of you to join us. You're late." Mr. Cametar said. He glared at us while his class stared at the two of us.

"Technically, sir, we weren't late. We were inside before the bell rang. We were just... later than usual." I smiled at him, hoping for forgiveness. He turned on Fang, and asked him why he was late. I couldn't wait to hear this. Although I didn't get a chance to beat up Fang, I would get to experience the great joy of seeing him have to explain why he was running.

"Um... I was trapped... in the bathroom... hiding..." He blushed. He actually blushed. Outside, my face was calm and placid, but on the inside I was doing a happy dance that would make Shakira jealous.

"Hiding? From what, exactly?" Mr. Cametar raised one bushy eyebrow at Fang, a skill Fang had been coaching me on, and waited for him to continue.

"Well...Max was trying...to kill me." He said. The entire class burst into laughter, and Fang meekly half smiled. The teacher rolled his eyes, and rubbed his forehead for a second, during which I whispered into Fang's ear.

"Yeah, and I would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling bathrooms!" Fang bit his lower lip while suppressing laughter. The class noticed that I had clearly said something funny, and were waiting for what happened next. It was a heck of a lot more interesting than World History.

"Never mind. Just go take your seats." I proudly noticed that our teacher seemed to be absolutely exhausted. So far it was a pretty good day, and I was already leaving a mark on the students at ye-old-briar-patch.

* * *

><p>English class went by quickly, and soon Ella, Nudge, and I were on our way to lunch again, but in the cafeteria this time. We went to their "usual spot" and sat down with our lunches. Thankfully, this school had not yet learned the horrors of mystery meat.<p>

As we ate a few other students came to sit with us, including a wiry looking girl named JJ. Iggy had yet another soccer meeting before lunch to discuss tactics or whatever, and it was just us girls. Eventually, I became the topic of discussion.

"So...what did you think of Fang?" Ella asked. She smiled suggestively at me, a coy look spreading itself on her face. Admittedly, I hadn't really considered him very much, but he seemed like a decent guy.

"I don't know. He's nice and funny... Kind of cute..." I said. All of the girls drew in a gasp, and I jumped to my defense. "I don't like him or anything, but he is cute, I guess. I mostly concentrate on my grades, not 'hotties' or whatever. I don't really like anybody that way." The girls seemed to look a little disappointed, and I could tell that I would be interrogated later on at Ella's party.

"Yeah, I guess... But still, I've never seen Fang talk so much to one person. Even if you don't like him, I think that he might like you." Ella said with finality, the others nodded in agreement.

I was about to send out some powerful retort about how Fang and I were just friends when I was suddenly engulfed with the rich scent of perfume. I turned around in my seat and found that a short girl with flaming red hair was standing behind me, looked imposing despite her small demeanor. "Hey, you must be the new girl, Max. My name's Lisa." I gave her a cheery greeting, and she smiled sadly at me. "Yeah, I just wanted to let you know a little something; around here, I'm queen bee. Don't mess with me, or you and your drab style will get _burnt_." She said in a nasally voice.

At first, she had seemed nice and I thought that we might become friends, but as soon as I began to detect the snobby edge to her drawl, and notice the gobs of makeup on her face, I cast away the prospect of us ever being friends into a large, black hole somewhere in the back of my mind. I was ready to fight back.

"Oh, great, it's one of the Briar Patch Kids. Which one are you again, strawberry?" I tilted my head to the side a bit and tapped my chin, feigning confusion. JJ covered her mouth, trying not to laugh, while Nudge's just stared at the two of us in shock.

"Listen, I'm just warning you. The school's a jungle, and if you don't follow the rules, you _will_ get burnt." She said snidely. I slowly stood up, towering over her and giving her my signature and oh-so-ruthless death glare.

"No, _you_ listen to _me. _I don't follow rules, _I break them._ You may think you rule the school, but you don't control me. I'll do whatever I want, whenever I want, however I want, and there's nothing you can do to stop me. And here's a little newsflash, hun: You're not a toaster. You can't burn me."

For the first time in my life, I had the ability to raise one eyebrow, and man did I look cool.

Her jaw dropped and she quickly recollected herself. "Yeah, well... You just wait, Maximum. I'll show you who's boss!" She said, jutting out her bottom lip and storming away towards a group of generally gorgeous looking people.

I yelled across the cafeteria at her, "Alright! Just bring me a mirror!" Lisa threw me a pathetic glare over her shoulder and muttered something about "getting that girl". I sat down and was rewarded with a round of high fives from everyone at the table.

At that moment the soccer team filed in with their lunches, each going to their own table. Iggy sat down next Tess and kissed her on the cheek. "Hey, guys. What up with the high fiving?" He asked. As I was still recovering from Iggy kissing Tess, Nudge retold the tale of Lisa and me.

"And then she was all like, 'Which one are you again, strawberry?' and Lisa got so mad that her face was redder than her hair, and she said that school was like a jungle and that Max would get burnt, and Max said that Lisa wasn't a toaster, and we were all like, Oh snap! Then she left, and you sat down and now here we are." Nudge smiled, and I began to wonder how it was possible for such a small body to hold enough air to say all of that without taking a breath in between.

"Nice. Anything else?" He asked, smiling in my general direction, yet another creepy skill of his. The list seemed to go on and on: Pinpointing directions, texting, playing dodge ball, jump-rope, and walking with scary accuracy.

"Yeah. Lisa's plotting my demise. Sounds like fun. What's going on in your life?" I asked with a smile. For some reason I was intrigued by the prospect of Lisa trying to destroy my life, and looked forward to witnessing her plans crash and burn (like a toaster).

"Max, this is serious." Tess chirped. Her hand was linked with Iggy's, and I could see the hints of disgust on Ella's face. "Lisa can really mess up your life. She's a powerful girl, and you don't want to mess with her. She can ruin your social life."

"Tess, in case you haven't noticed, I don't have much of a social life. I don't really care what rumors she spreads, what tricks she plays, or what insults she says, no matter how clever or stupid they are. If she tries to destroy me, I'll destroy her. Honestly, if it wasn't for physics and law makers, Lisa would have been long gone by now. And like I said earlier, I don't follow the rules, even the rules of gravity." I winked at her and tossed out my forgotten lunch. I left the cafeteria in a confident strut, my head held high.

* * *

><p>I stowed yet another shirt into my bag, not bothering to fold it. JJ was going to swing by in half an hour to pick me up for the party, and I was in a hurry to get ready. I had warned my dad that I would be leaving soon, and he gave me a corny salute and went into his office to work on his latest project.<p>

I heard a tap on my balcony window, and I ran to open it. I pulled back the curtain, and Fang was standing on his balcony, tossing a pebble from one hand to another. He grinned at me, and I remembered what Ella had said earlier. "But still, I've never seen Fang talk so much to one person. Even if you don't like him, I think that he might like you." Ever since I heard Ella's words, I began to think of Fang differently. _Did_ he like me, or was Ella's nail polish finally getting to her head?

"Hey, Fang! What's up?" I yelled. I could hear Angel's laughter from the other window, and smiled at the memory of her carefree face.

"Nothing much. Wanna come over and hang out?" He asked. Oh, how I would have loved to come over and tell him all about my success with Lisa. I knew I couldn't, though, because Fang was supposedly friends with Lisa. When he walked into the lunch room with the rest of the soccer team, I had expected him to come and sit next to us, but instead he sat at the table with all of the Briar Patch Kids, as we now called them. Nudge later let me know that Fang was one of the most popular kids at school and that our group only knew him from Iggy's soccer games and the occasional detention.

"Sorry, I can't. I'm spending the night at Ella's. We can hang out tomorrow, though." I called. Fang nodded his head, and I almost caught a small look of disappointment in his eyes, although I could barely tell from this distance. Fang was not easily discernible, and you had to know him ridiculously well to know what he was thinking. I was getting to know him better and could sometimes tell what he was thinking, but it was still difficult.

There was a sharp beep from outside, and I could see JJ's car rolling into my driveway. "Hey, I'll see you later, Fang. We'll hang out tomorrow, okay?" I asked. He smiled at me and nodded his head once again, and I locked my balcony door behind me. I picked up my bag, and met JJ at her car with a smile. As we drove away, I could still see Fang standing on his balcony, staring off into space. I knew that I would have to figure this boy out, and soon.

* * *

><p><strong>Ella's P.O.V.<strong>

I can't believe they dragged me into this. It was supposed to be a nice, friendly game of Truth or Dare, but then Nudge picked me and... well, now I'm standing in front of my swimming pool wearing a snorkel and a tutu. Things didn't work out.

It had been Nudge's turn, and after pondering on what punishment she would dish out on me, she said, "I hereby dare miss Ella Rosalinda Martinez to jump into her swimming pool while wearing... a snorkel and a pink tutu." Of course, there was the issue of finding a tutu, but after JJ so graciously drove to the nearest convenience store, it was no longer a problem.

"C'mon, just do it Ella! It's not all that bad!" Nudge pleaded from behind me. I turned around and glared at her. I held up my hands in defeat, and stepped forward. I dipped my toe into the water, finding it warm enough, but still chilly. I pulled the snorkel over my face and shuffled even closer, until my toes were hanging over the edge. I took a deep breath, lifted one foot, and-

Two hands were placed against my back and pushed me forward. I went in, flailing like a dying fish and screaming at the top of my lungs. I popped my head out of the water to see JJ looking at me with a triumphant look in her eyes. "You guys were taking way too long, and I was getting bored. I wanted to speed up the process." She said.

Soon, we were all "speeding up the process". First, Tess pushed in Nudge, Max pushed in Tess, and Max did a cannon ball into the deep end. We were totally soaked and laughing our butts off. We spent about a half hour wading and joking around, playing Water-Truth-or-Dare. Eventually we got out and put some towels on our shivering bodies.

We retreated to the now roaring bonfire, and taught Max the fine art of S'mores. Soon we were all gathered around, gossiping about the latest trends and scandals. Max had a surprising outlook on things that challenged our views. She proved to be a nice addition to our group, and I was glad that we gotten off to such a nice start.

Sometime around ten thirty Tess got a call from her brother. "I'm sorry guys, I've gotta take this. I hardly ever get to talk to him, what with him being in the army and all. I'll be back later." We all waved good-bye to her, and she ran off towards the house.

I tried to smile as she left, but it turned out to be more like a grimace. "You really don't like her, do you?" Max asked from across the dwindling fire. I looked at her in surprise, and everyone else stared at Max as well.

"She's nice and all... It's just..." I blushed. I really didn't want to explain why I disliked Tess so much. She was an awesome person, really smart, and totally cool, but... She was dating Iggy, and I didn't like that. But how was I supposed to explain that to Max?

"You like Iggy too, right?" She asked, raising her eyebrows. How could she tell? Was it really that obvious? My brain swam with possibilities. "I can tell by the way you look at him. Don't worry, most people can't tell, I'm just really observational. Your secret's safe with me." She smiled at me, and I smiled back, but a bit weaker than usual.

* * *

><p><strong>MAX'S P.O.V. <strong>

Do you have any idea how bad the smell of nail polish is? It's absolutely horrid. I was getting my nails painted black, and Ella was going to put on white stripes to make it look like a zebra. I didn't trust her to have a steady hand at two o clock in the morning though, and made a note to myself to buy paint remover the next chance I got.

Before we went to sleep, the girls tried to give me a makeover, but I valiantly fought them off. Eventually I agreed to let them come over and give me a makeover some that month, but that my face would remain gunk free for the night. They relented and retired to their sleeping bags, and I managed to rest in peace.

I woke up the next morning much earlier than I should have, with a grumbling stomach and a grumpy mood. The girls got up soon after, but not soon enough. We all got dressed and JJ drove us to a nearby cafe called Crescent Moon. We all ordered our food and sat down in a corner booth.

"So, Max... We had a quick question for you..." Ella began slowly. I looked up from my muffin very slowly. The entire group was smiling at me and leaning in a bit. "Do you like Fang?" She asked quickly, tensing for my explosion.

I surprised them by calmly replying, "No, I don't. He's a nice guy, we hang out, but I don't feel that way." JJ looked disappointed, and so did Tess, but Nudge and Ella would not be discouraged.

"Oh, come on!" Nudge whined. "We're your friends, you can tell us if you're interested in him!"

I gestured to the sweet delicacy in front of me with both of my hands, looked her dead in the eyes, my face set, and said, "Honestly, Nudge, the only thing I'm interested in right now is this muffin. Just drop it."

Suffice to say, my muffin-time was not interrupted again.

**Hey, sorry. I told you it would be on a Sunday-ish time, but it ended up a little late. It would have been in sooner, but my stupid conscious forced me into adding another three pages of work. I had decided that I would rather have more story and be late than cut it off where Max leaves for the party and have it in on time. Ugh... I must have been working in marmot time...**

**I tried for Ella's P.O.V., kinda fun, tell me how I did. I appreciate constructive criticism, and if you give me any flamers, ill probably just end up laughing at it.**

**R&R?**


	4. I'll Get My Revenge, My Pretties!

**I'm sorry that it took so LONG to update, but I was having writers block for the first time in my life and had no idea how to start this chapter. So, to fix that, I went back to the basic rule of thumb for all writing: When beginning a book or chapter, throw the reader into the action and let them figure out what the heck is going on. **

**And, because I took so dang long and only got around to writing this on the sixth, I am handing out Fudge to anybody who reviews. Virtual fudge, mind you. I can't make real fudge, sadly...**

**Disclaimer: Je ne possède pas le Tour Maximum.**

Obnoxious cheers echoed in my mind with the crackling thump of the soccer ball and cleats meeting each other. Both teams flew across the field, and our side of the bleachers burst into cheers as Dylan successfully blocked yet another goal, returning it to the field. Sam made a complicated run, ultimately passing it to Fang.

Just for the record, it takes a lot to get me to go to sports events, but considering that two of my best friends were on the team, I had four overzealous teenage girls holding onto my elbows, and it _was _Regionals, I had no choice but to join the festivities and go to the game.

"Hey, I'm gonna go grab something to eat, you guys want anything?" I asked. My stomach was grumbling, and I was beginning to think the boy at the concessions stand was taunting me. The other girls supplied their own orders, and I walked to the small white building and made my order.

"Alright, that'll be ten nineteen." A gangly teenage boy handed me my change, and I gratefully took it and my food. I walked away, trying to squelch the growing feeling of claustrophobia as I weaved my way through the thickening crowd.

"Food's up, guys. Dig in." I called as I climbed the bleachers to where Tess, Nudge, Ella, and JJ were sitting. They all accepted the gifts and followed my instructions. We paused between bites to cheer for the team. "Wow, this school has a really good goalie. What's his name?" I asked.

"His name is Dylan," Nudge said. "And he's not just good at soccer. He's captain of the debate team, is on honor role, and is also the hottest guy in the entire school." I nodded in agreement.

"Wait, Max, are you _nodding?_ Oh my gosh, she's actually nodding! You think he's cute, don't you!" Ella yelled. I automatically stilled my head and put my hands up defensively.

"Of course not! I'd never-" I sneaked a glance at Ella and realized she'd never believe me. "Oh, alright, I think he's hot. Aren't I allowed to do that every once in a while?" I asked, my voice raising an octave.

"Sure, you're allowed, we just never expected it." Tess said. One side of her mouth quirked up, and she gave me an almost apologetic look. They spent the next half hour teasing, cracking jokes, and steadily devouring our popcorn supply. By the end of the game, our team had won two to five. Everyone left in high spirits, and the team members ran off to the locker rooms, throwing peace signs to the people in the stands.

Nudge offered to give me a ride home, and I hopped into her car. I made a note to myself to start saving up for a new car. I felt like a burden to my friends, and related this to Nudge on the way home.

"Oh, it's okay! I love giving rides to people, because it's, like, a great opportunity to talk to them. We can help you figure out a job, too! Plus, it's okay, so long as we can still give you that makeover. Oh, how about Monday, before school starts? Then you could look all nice and maybe Dylan would see you and that would be cool because you thought he was hot and maybe he'd think that you were hot, then he'd ask you out, and you would start dating!"

She turned her head towards me, grinning, while I tried to absorb whatever she had just said. All that I really caught was the word makeover and Dylan. Everything else was a big blur. I just smiled, said sure, and looked out the window. The trimmed lawn of the town park rolled past me, and I noticed the cute ice cream stands and merry-go-rounds.

I finally made it home, and ran into my bathroom to take a shower. I still had chlorine in my hair from the night before, and was excited to take a nap afterwords. I stepped out of my shower and put on a towel. Walking up to the mirror, I rubbed the mist off of the glass and studied my reflection.

"Pfft, yeah, Fang has a crush on this. I know that we're just friends." I smiled at myself, and brushed out my hair. I put on some fresh clothes and plopped onto my bed, nuzzling my face into the cozy comforters.

* * *

><p><strong>Lisa's P.O.V.<strong>

I made my way down the pavement to the area just behind the bleachers. Fang was standing there, lounging about, probably waiting for a ride. I put on my best smile, flipped my hair over my shoulder, and walked towards him.

"Hey, Fang!" I said. He looked up from the book he was reading and took me in. I had dressed especially nice for the occasion, making sure everything I was wearing was just perfect. I even had my father hire a makeup artist to make sure nothing looked wrong.

"Hey, Lisa. What's up?" He asked. He had been strangely sociable lately, and I wasn't sure why, but I took it as my chance to _finally_ ask him out. I had been waiting for a long time, but he finally accepted my presence, and I was ready.

"Today is your lucky day! You get to take me out on a date. What do you say?" I threw him my award winning smile, and tried to act as innocent as possible.

He smiled gently at me, and said, "Sorry, Lisa. No thanks." He turned his head back down at his book, Wuthering Heights. I stammered for a second, trying to recompose myself. How could he say no? I looked perfect, I sounded perfect, I _was_ perfect! What was his problem?

"I-I'm sorry, what did you say? It sounded like you just said no, and I know that's not possible." I took a step closer, and narrowed my eyes slightly out of instinct. He sighed and snapped his book shut, putting into his book bag.

He returned his attention to me, and coolly replied, "I said no. I don't really want to go out with you." I never got a decent sentence from Fang, ever, and I was extremely disappointed that the first one I got was him saying no to me. But I would _not_ accept defeat.

"Alright. Who is she? Because I know that it can't be me, so it must be someone else. Who do you have a crush on, huh? Tell me!" My voice rose, and and he shook his head slightly. "Oh, I know there's somebody. There's _always_ somebody, and you're going to tell me right now." I gave him a death glare that would match anybody's, and he just stared back at me with those lovely onyx eyes.

For a split second, he looked like he was about to say something. He paused, took a deep breath, and whispered, "Alright, but you can't tell a soul." He looked at me seriously, and I bit my lip in anticipation. "It's... Max." He looked away, almost guiltily, while I took a step back.

Max? As in, Maximum Batchelor? The girl that called me strawberry? He has a crush on _her,_ of all people? "Are you serious? How could you-" I paused, seeing his look of surprise. "-Never have told me before? Oh, well, if that's it, then I won't intervene." I smiled pleasantly at him, and waved goodbye.

If Max was the only thing standing in my way of being with Fang, then I would have to do what anybody would do in my position; eliminate the competition.

* * *

><p><strong>Max's P.O.V. <strong>

There was a brief series of taps on my balcony window. I threw off my covers, and groggily stumbled over. I opened the door, and Fang was sitting on the railings. "Wow, how did you get up here?" I asked. He smiled and pointed behind him, at a long tree branch extending from a tree almost directly on the property line. On the other side, another tree branch ran close to his balcony, the perfect walkway. There was a small alcove in the actual tree just big enough for two people. I looked back at him and grinned.

He led me to the center of the tree, and we sat down in it. We started talking, as usual, and he brought up the game. He helped explain to me what all the positions in soccer were, but I was at a total loss for words. I wasn't really into sports, and he knew that._ He's just trying to confuse me_, I thought conspiratorially.

"You know what we should do? We should make a latter going up the side of the tree trunk, so that we can get up here without having to walk the tightrope." I said. We had had a brief pause in the conversation, and were sitting in comfortable silence. He opened his eyes, and looked down at the ten foot drop to the ground.

"Good idea. I think I know where we could get some wooden planks and nails." He grinned, and we started planning how we would scale the tree. When Sunday afternoon came the next day, Fang brought out an armful of supplies.

We spent a good three hours installing the ladder into the tree. About an hour in, I asked Fang to hold a nail in place for me. He obliged, and I began driving it into the tree bark. On the third strike, I misjudged the placement of my hammer, and missed the nail by about a centimeter.

I hadn't realized what had happened until Fang cried out, "Crud!" I looked over, and found that his finger was turning a bright shade of red. He was biting his lip and squinting his eyes like a little kid. It was just about the most emotion Fang had ever shown, and absolutely hilarious.

As I stifled laughter, I asked, "Aw, does little Fangy-Poo have a boo-boo?" I smiled at him, and he flicked my forehead with his good hand.

"Shut-up, Max." He growled.

"Oh, you're a scary five year old, aren't you?" I teased.

"Yeah, and I'm a tall one too, so drop it."

"Oh, wow, I'm quivering in my boots!"

"Yeah, more like quivering mustache hairs..."

"Hey!"

"Ow, you hit me!"

"Sorry, did I give you another boo-boo?"

"Just drop-it."

After our little argument, we finished the ladder and climbed up the tree. We lounged around for awhile, the weather steadily getting worse. A few storm clouds rolled in, and Fang was standing up to go back inside his house when the wind slammed his balcony door shut. He ran over to it, and tugged on it several times. It wasn't budging.

"Why don't you just go in through the front door?" I asked. He sat down on his balcony railing, the rain starting to drizzle.

"I can't. My parents had an overnight business trip, and Angel and Gazzy are both spending the night at their friend's houses. Plus, we changed the lock a while ago, so the spare key won't work." He said. I patted his back with sympathy, and said, "Hey, you could always spend the night at my house. My dad would probably be cool with it." He looked over at me incredulously.

"Are you sure?" He asked. I reassured him, and brought him to the front door. My dad opened it up and I explained what was going on. He said it was fine, and fetched some blankets from the closet, handing them to Fang.

"Here, you can sleep on the old blow-up mattress in Max's room." Fang took them and we made our way upstairs. "Supper's in a few minutes, guys!" He called.

We set up Fang's makeshift bed in the corner of my room, out of sight, and ran back downstairs. My dad had make ribs and baked potatoes, and Fang filled his plate and sat down. We chatted about this and that, and finally my dad brought up one of the most important questions that a teenager has to face. "So, what colleges are you applying to?"

Fang glanced up from his dinner, and wiped his mouth off. "Well, I've already applied to Emerson College in Boston, University of Arizona, and Stanford. I'm going to send in my applications to Yale, Harvard, and University of Hawaii and California in a few days." My dad looked up in surprise, commenting on how hard most of those were to get into. "Yes, well, I'm one of the top students in my class, I can get a scholarship for soccer, and I've also done a lot of volunteer work over the summer." Fang said.

My dad smiled and clapped him on the back. "Well, that's great! You know, I was accepted into Harvard." He then began telling Fang a long list of hilarious tales of the college life. Fang actually laughed a few times, and told a few of his own stories.

"And then, I looked down, and I was wearing barbie pajamas. Let's just say I never went back to camp again." We were all sitting around the table, laughing our butts off. I tried to imagine Fang in barbie pajamas, but couldn't seem to make myself. When we had finished eating, Fang and I went up to my room to watch a movie. At sometime around ten thirty, we turned in, Fang retreating to his own bed. We wished each other goodnight, and turned off the lights.

* * *

><p><strong>Dylan's P.O.V.<strong>

My blackberry rang to the beat of 3OH!3, and I picked it up. I was greeted by the high voice of Lisa. "Hey, Dylan! What's up?" She asked.

I smiled into the receiver, and replied, "Nothing much. Just getting ready to turn in. I'm wiped from the game earlier." I flopped onto my twin sized bed and closed my eyes leisurely. "So, what did you call for?" I asked.

"Oh, I needed you to do a favor for me. You see, lately, I've been trying to do some good deeds." She said. I tried not to snort at this, and covered it with a cough. "And I noticed that that girl, Max, hasn't really been dating anyone lately. I was getting kind of worried that she didn't have many friends, so I thought that maybe you would take her on a date or something."

This made me pause. I had noticed Max in the halls and during lunch period, and she seemed attractive enough. She had wavy brown hair, and chocolatey brown eyes, and a sturdy, athletic frame. In class, she seemed intelligent enough, and not at all snobby like some of the girls at our school, which was a nice change of pace. "I don't know, Lisa. She seems nice, but I think she's getting along just fine without you."

"Oh, come on, Dylan! Just one date! That's all I'm asking for!" I was about to protest further, when she said, "I'll pay you a fifty bucks a week, for as long as you date her. I know that you need money for a new car, Dylan." I paused and contemplated.

I really did need money for a new car, and Max seemed like a nice enough girl. And if Lisa was trying to do a good deed, who was I to stop her?

"Alright, Lisa. I'll do it."

"Nice." She said. "We'll work out the details tomorrow." And with that, she hanged up.

* * *

><p><strong>Max's P.O.V.<strong>

I woke up to knocking on my door. I opened my eyes and sat up. The door slowly creaked open, and Nudge, Ella, and JJ all walked inside. I smiled at them, and remembered how Nudge said she would give me a makeover. It had taken me hours to sort it out, but after I recruited Fang to help me translate -.

Fang. I had almost forgotten. Fang was sleeping in the corner of my room, having no idea that three other girls were inside of it. I hoped and hoped that the girls wouldn't notice, but I could tell that it was a long shot from the beginning.

"Uh, Max? Why is there a boy sleeping in your room?"

**Alright, I finished it. I wrote almost this entire chapter listening to Korean Pop, such as A-Pink, Super Junior, maybe some Girl's Generation, and a little bit of SHINee. I know, I'm odd, but I don't care! You should try it sometime. **

**I tried to add in some diversity by having different P.O.V.'s, but I 'm kind of sorry because I had somebody ask for Iggy's P.O.V., and I did so many others _besides_ his. Don't worry, I'll put him in somewhere!**

**R&R?**


	5. Don't Say Kapeesh!

**Kay, time for a new addition to the story! AHHH, it's been so long since I updated! I'm sorry, I was just never really in the writing mood. Now it's going on 2:00, and I'm determined to write this before five! Or four! Whichever I decide on!**

**Oh. And MPHknows? I came up with the idea by myself, but if you've read it before, that's fine, I'll work hard to make it my own. **

**Disclaimer: Аз не притежават максималната Яхам.**

My face started blushing like mad, but JJ paid no notice. "I can work around him." She set her bag down and walked over to my bed, Nudge and Ella in tow. JJ started to take some makeup out of her purse, but Nudge grabbed her hand and stopped her.

"Wait guys... Maybe we _shouldn't_ work around him..." Nudge said. She gave us a devious smile, and we all reciprocated it. "Okay, I'll need four surgical masks, a roll of duct-tape, some jump-rope, and an electric tooth-brush. Fang's gonna wake up to a surprise..."

* * *

><p><strong>Fang's P.O.V.<strong>

I woke up to an odd buzzing sound. My heavy eyelids opened up, revealing four monsters wearing surgical masks. One of them held an electric tooth-brush and was slowly moving it towards my face. I tried to breath in some air through my mouth to yell for help, but it was cut off by a sticky fabric. _They duct-taped my mouth shut? What the heck is going on here!_

In a low voice, one of them whisper, "Don't worry, it's just to take the makeup off." The monster/alien/creature to the far right pulled a mirror out from behind it's back and held it up for me to see. Before me was a boy that looked just like me, but had a dark blue eyeshow expertly applied to his left eye. On the other side was a rainbow of colors. Bright purple gunk was all over my cheeks, and that wasn't even the worst of it; My overlong black hair now had neon colors running through it, pulled up into random pony tails throughout my head. I nearly fainted.

My eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, and all that I could think was, _What kind of sick monster would do this to somebody! Abduct me, experiment on me, I don't care, but leave my hair ALONE! _The creatures all started cackling chaotically, and surprisingly enough I began to recognize one of the laughs...

The monsters pulled off their surgical masks, revealing four girls: Nudge, Ella, JJ, and, of course, Max. They were all leaning over each other, rolling on the floor and gasping for breath. I gave them a ferocious death glare which was probably ruined by my rediculous appearance. Finally, Ella struggled to her feet and gently pulled the duct-tape off of my lips. "Haha, maybe since he's still tied down we should give him some lipstick!" She laughed.

"If you take even a step towards me with that, I'll have to kill you." I growled out. This only caused them to laugh harder, and once the girls finally got control of themselves they agreed to release me. Max stepped behind me and untied what I soon found out was jump-rope, then handed me an electric tooth-brush.

"Here, maybe this'll help you get that gunk off your face." She choked out. I ripped it from her hands and stomped off to the bathroom, grumbling about being scared half to death. My bare feet padded on the ceramic tiles to the sink, where I spent a grueling fifteen minutes scrubbing the so-called "makeup" off of my face. Luckily the colors in my hair were only extensions, but they didn't seem to want to part with my hair. I threw them into the trashcan, and trudged off to Max's room.

"Alright, alright, Max! We're almost done, just one last curl!" Nudge yelled. I opened the door, and the girls were leaning over Max, whose back was to me. Ella was holding a curling iron, and JJ was wielding a hair-brush like a sword. "Okay, we're done."

Nudge swung the chair around and Max turned to face me. To my surprise, her face was even prettier than before. They had spared her from the amount of makeup I was subjected to, and her hair was curled rather nicely. She was wearing a pair of denim shorts and a dark, maroon t-shirt. On top was a jacket that reached to the bottom of her rib cage, and she looked like she was hating ever minute of it. "So, what do you think, Fang?" She asked, standing up. She was situated in black flats, so she still had some balance left.

"Uh, you look... Uh, well... Nice?" I said. I hadn't intended it to be a question, and automatically regretted my reply. Max raised her eyebrows and took a few steps forward.

"Nice? You don't have to say it like that. If you don't like it, just tell me." She crossed her arms and pushed her weight onto one side of her hips. There was a subtle smirk on her face and a fire in her eyes that proved that she would kill me if I said anything wrong.

"Oh, no, I like it... It's just not what I expected." I said. I rubbed the back of my neck and tried to make myself look busy by cleaning up my make-shift bed. Max nodded her head, seeming to accept it. The other three girls looked slightly offended.

"Nice? _Nice?_ I spent a lot of time working on that! Oh, well... At least you didn't expect it. That's what we're going for." Ella said indignantly.

I pulled the plug on the air mattress and crossed to the other side of the room. I took a running leap at the mattress and threw myself onto it. I slammed into it, and air whooshed out unevenly.

There was a chorus of giggling and I looked up from where I was sprawled out on the floor. "Uh, Fang, you know, there's a button you can press to do that for you." Max said. She walked over and bent over the side, pressing a small button. The air immediately flowed out in a steady stream, and I started to sink to the ground.

"Oh. That's a lot simpler, huh?" I asked. She just smiled at me and offered her hand to help me up. I told the girls good-bye, and climbed into the tree, shimmying down the new ladder. I knew I had to run over to where Angel and Gazzy were so that they could give me the only spare key in existence for the new lock, and then high-tail it to get ready for school.

We finally got ready for school, and I was puling out of the driveway right as my mom's car made its way down the street. I waved good-bye to my mother, and she simply smiled and nodded at me. Her hair was still uniform as ever, and she was freakishly active looking for such an early time in the morning. We were a family of early risers, but my mother could get up at three in the morning and look like she had been up for hours without even taking a sip of coffee. I dropped Angel and Gazzy off at their schools, then parked in my usual space at the high school, next to Sam's Volvo.

I mentally reviewed the days events, from waking up to surgical masks and duct-tape, to seeing Max looking...different, and then racing to get ready. It was a very eventful morning, and I wasn't sure if I should look forward to the rest of the day, or fear it

* * *

><p><strong>Max's P.O.V. <strong>

You know that feeling you get as a new student where you walk into the school building and feel as if there are a million eyes on you? Did you know that you can get that exact same feeling after a makeover?

I didn't even feel like myself! I had no idea why I would ever agree to something like this, and was contemplating how quickly I could get it off of my face when I heard a pair of sneakers fall into step with mine. I looked over, expecting it to be Fang, but instead found a very cute boy.

"Hey, Max. I'm Dylan. We haven't really met before." He said. I nearly tripped when I got a look at his face up close. His eyes were a deep pacific blue and his dark blond hair fell loosely over his forehead. He gave me a stunningly white smile and offered me his hand.

I shook it in a daze, and said, "Oh, yeah. You're the goalie for the soccer team, right?" He smiled again and nodded his head shyly.

"Yup. I've barely got any time nowadays, what with practice and all... But maybe on my next free day, I could- Ah, never mind." He said and started to veer off in a different direction. I was seriously considering just letting him walk away, but something inside of me made me grab his arm and ask what he was going to say.

"Oh, it's nothing, it's kind of stupid anyways... But, i was thinking that maybe, sometime soon, you might want to...Go out? On a date? With me?" He asked quickly. He started blushing, but i doubted it was as brightly as i was. Was this some kind of joke? There was no way he could be serious about this.

But he was.

"Sure. What day?" I found myself asking. _Man, this makeup must be getting to my head or something..._

"Any day is fine by me, but I get practice off early tonight, so I could just pick you up and we could go to a movie or something. Okay?" He asked. He looked slightly nervous, which surprised me. Why would he, of all people, be nervous? I nodded my head and smiled at him. "Alright. I'll pick you up at five. I think I know where you live, for the most part." He said, laughing.

I waved good-bye, and bit my lip. I'd never been on a date before, and I got the feeling that the girls would make me dress up again. I couldn't _not_ tell them, of course, but I was afraid of the screeching I would receive when I told them.

I set off down the hallway to where JJ, Nudge, and Ella were gathered, and told them the good news. They squealed and started making plans about what they would do to make me look perfect, and Nudge started complaining that she wouldn't have enough time.

They dragged me off down the hall to tell Tess and some of their other friends, and I barely even noticed Fang staring at me from across the hall.

* * *

><p>"Guys! He's gonna be here in fifteen minutes! You have to <em>leave<em> now! Get out!" I yelled! Tess grimaced, but helped me shoo the rest of them out of my bedroom. "Don't worry, I'll tell you guys what happened the next chance I get, but I refuse to have him seeing you guys here before our date!" I still got a weird feeling saying "our date", but dismissed it quickly.

"Alright, Max. Just remember what we told you!" Nudge said. "No biting, yelling, overly-sarcastic comments, or any form of humiliating or hurting your date! Kapeesh?"

"Oh, yeah, that's another one. Don't say kapeesh." Tess said, laughing. They all piled into JJ's car and drove away. I walked back up the porch stairs, stumbling a bit in the heels I was given. I ran upstairs and threw open my balcony door. I stepped out and leaned agaisnt the railing. I needed some fresh air.

"Just think of it as a recon mission." A voice from behind me said. I spun around to see Fang leaning against the side of my house. He grinned at me, and straightened up, stepping forward to straighten out my jacket.

"How did you know about the date?" I asked in surprise. I had been dreading telling Fang about the date for a long time, and I still didn't know why.

"If you didn't want me to know, maybe you shouldn't have spoken about it so openly. Plus, Dylan wouldn't shut up about it at soccer practice." He said with a smirk. I blushed and turned around with my arms crossed. "Don't worry about it, Max. Everything's gonna work out. The two of you will go see a movie, he'll drop you off, and you'll probably make it home without an injury. No worries, right?" He asked.

Fang patted my back and hopped onto my balcony railing. He shoved his hands into his pockets and started pacing back and forth. "Looks like your date's here. Good luck." He winked at me and jumped onto the tree branch. He let go and landed nimbly on his feet on the ground below. Dylan's car pulled into my driveway, and I ran down the stairs, only pausing to check myself in the mirror for possibly the first time in my life.

What were these boys doing to me?

**Woohoo! I finished it within about two and a half hours, give or take! I'm so proud... I had started it before, but it was only a paragraph or so. **

**P.S. I'd like to know who all can figure out what language the disclaimer is in! I'm trying to do a different one every time, and the last one was obviously French... (plus, i kind of forgot what language it was... I'll look it up later!)  
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**R&R?  
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